Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979

Variant names

Hide Profile

Lowell was an American poet.

From the description of Letters concerning Amy Lowell, 1925-1935 and undated. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 83898015

Eleanor Robson Belmont was born in Lancashire, England in 1879. In 1897, she graduated from St. Peter's Academy, in Staten Island, New York. Upon graduation, Belmont became an actress in California and New York. After her marriage to August Belmont on February 26, 1910, she quit the acting business and focused her attention on philanthropy. Belmont died in 1979.

From the guide to the Eleanor Robson Belmont collection, 1913-1949, (Manuscripts and Archives)

President of Metropolitan Opera and benefactor; resident of New York, N.Y., and Northeast Harbor, Me.; b. Eleanor Robson; m. August Belmont; d. 1979.

From the description of Oral history interview, [197-] [sound recording]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70972517

Belmont (1879-1979) was an American actress and a prominent public figure.

From the description of Papers, 1851-1979. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122514983

Eleanor Robson Belmont, actress socialite and philanthropist was born December 13, 1878 in Wigan Lancashire England to an actress mother and a musician father. Her father died when she was very young and her mother Madge Carr Cook remarried to the actor Augustus Cook immigrated to America. Eleanor was educated in American boarding schools after which she joined her mother Madge Carr Cook in the San Francisco-based Frawley Stock Company. She quickly graduated to starring roles while touring with the company. In 1900 she moved to New York where she was signed by the impresario George Tyler of Liebler and Company. She was a sensation acclaimed for her beauty her sweet rich speaking voice and her natural manner. Her greatest hit was Israel Zangwill's Merely Mary Ann in 1903. While playing the role in London, she captivated George Bernard Shaw who wrote Major Barbara for her. She was never able to play the part she inspired due to contractual obligations, but she continued to be a popular draw starring in Nurse Marjorie (1906), Salomy Jane (1907), and Dawn of Tomorrow (1909). In 1910, she left the stage to marry the banker, August Belmont.

After marriage, as she tells us in her autobiography Fabric of Memory, life became a "world of horses, polo, social events, new friends, civic interests, and farming." She supported her husband's pursuits including the Belmont racing stables, the construction of the New York Subway, and the Cape Cod Canal. Both Belmonts actively took part in the war effort in World War I. Mrs. Belmont was appointed to the American Red Cross and she courageously traveled dangerous waters to personally inspect the Red Cross overseas effort. After the war, she helped develop the peacetime American Red Cross.

Mrs. Belmont was widowed in 1924 but continued to be active in philanthropic causes. During the Great Depression, she raised funds with the Women's Committee of the Central Emergency Unemployment Relief Agency devoting special attention to the needs of the single working woman. When World War II broke out Mrs. Belmont again served the war effort through the Red Cross.

Mrs. Belmont maintained her interest in the theater. In 1931, she co-wrote and produced a play In the Next Room . Her theatrical fame and her training as an actress had contributed to her success as a fundraiser, and the performing arts remained one of her causes. She was especially fond of the Metropolitan Opera Company. In 1933, she became the first woman to sit on its Board of Directors. She founded the Metropolitan Opera Guild in 1935 as a permanent vehicle for raising money and as a basis of support. She lived to see the Opera emerge from the precarious financial predicament in which she found it to become a thriving, well-supported, well-attended institution.

Mrs. Belmont died at the age of 101 in 1979. On her hundredth birthday, December 13, 1978, she had told the New York Times that, "the secret to long life is no diet no special care nothing like that. It's doing what you want and doing it happily."

From the guide to the Eleanor Robson Belmont Papers, 1851-1979., (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library, )

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979,. Autograph letter signed from Eleanor Robson, New York, to Mrs. Patrick Campbell [manuscript], 19th or 20th century September. Folger Shakespeare Library
creatorOf Eleanor Robson Belmont Papers, 1851-1979. Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library
referencedIn Eleanor Robson Belmont collection, [19--?-ongoing]. Museum of Performance & Design
referencedIn Kaufman, George S. (George Simon), 1889-1961. Papers, [microform] 1918-1958. New York Public Library System, NYPL
referencedIn Robinson Locke Collection, 1870-1920 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
creatorOf Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979,. Letters concerning Amy Lowell, 1925-1935 and undated. Houghton Library
creatorOf Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979. Papers, 1851-1979. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
creatorOf William Henry Matthews papers, 1907-1944. New York State Historical Documents Inventory
referencedIn Marguerite Yourcenar additional papers, 1842-1996. Houghton Library
referencedIn Central Committee on Friendship Dinners. Records, 1927-1950 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979,. Oral history interview, [197-] [sound recording]. Northeast Harbor Library
referencedIn Papers of Samuel Eliot Morison Harvard University Archives.
referencedIn Delano, William Adams, 1874-1960. William Adams Delano papers, 1902-1960 (inclusive), 1939-1960 (bulk). Yale University Library
creatorOf Bing, Rudolf, 1902-1997,. Sir Rudolf Bing farewell [sound recording] University of Pennsylvania Library
referencedIn Records, 1927-1950 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn George S. Kaufman papers, [microform], 1918-1958 The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.
referencedIn John Mason Brown papers, 1922-1967. Houghton Library
referencedIn George Pierce Baker papers, 1878-1958 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Photographs of theatrical performers, 1862-1982. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Souvenir programs of theatrical productions, 1883-1965. Harvard Theater Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
referencedIn Kaufman, George S. (George Simon), 1889-1961. Papers, 1918-1958. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn Photographs of American and European actors, actresses and singers [manuscript], ca.1890-1910. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Charles Seymour papers, 1912-1963 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
referencedIn Houghton Library printed book provenance file, A-D Houghton Library
creatorOf August Belmont Jr. papers, 1827-1965 (bulk 1909-1924). Library of Congress. Manuscript Division
referencedIn Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner papers Archives of American Art
creatorOf Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979,. Eleanor Robson Belmont collection, 1913-1949 (inclusive). Yale University Library
creatorOf Lowell, Amy, 1874-1925. Miscellaneous papers, 1915-1925. Houghton Library
referencedIn Baker, George Pierce, 1866-1935. George Pierce Baker papers, 1878-1958 (inclusive). Yale University Library
creatorOf Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979,. Autograph letter signed from Eleanor Robson Belmont, Garnett, South Carolina, to Viola Allen [manuscript], 1916? January 6th. Folger Shakespeare Library
referencedIn Corning, John Herbert, d. ca. 1940. John Herbert Corning papers, 1770-1933 (bulk 1880-1901). Library of Congress
referencedIn Seymour, Charles, 1885-1963. Charles Seymour papers, 1912-1963 (inclusive). Yale University Library
referencedIn William Henry Matthews papers, 1907-1944 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Eleanor Robson Belmont collection, 1913-1949 Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
correspondedWith Allen, Viola, 1867-1948 person
associatedWith American Red Cross. corporateBody
associatedWith American Shakespeare Festival Foundation. corporateBody
associatedWith Austin, Mary. person
associatedWith Austin, Mary. person
associatedWith Baker, George Pierce, 1866-1935. person
associatedWith Belmont, August, 1853-1924. person
associatedWith Benét, Stephen Vincent, 1898-1943. person
associatedWith Bing, Rudolf, 1902-1997, person
correspondedWith Brown, John Mason, 1900-1969 person
associatedWith Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924. person
associatedWith Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947. person
correspondedWith Campbell, Patrick, Mrs., 1865-1940 person
associatedWith Central Committee on Friendship Dinners. corporateBody
associatedWith Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933. person
associatedWith Corning, John Herbert, d. ca. 1940. person
associatedWith Delano, William Adams, 1874-1960. person
associatedWith Educational Dramatic League. corporateBody
associatedWith Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969. person
associatedWith Fairchild, Julia. person
associatedWith Fitch, Clyde, 1865-1909. person
associatedWith Ford, Harriet, 1868-1949. person
associatedWith France, Anatole, 1844-1924. person
associatedWith Galsworthy, John, 1867-1933. person
associatedWith Glasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson, 1873-1945. person
associatedWith Guilbert, Yvette, 1865-1944. person
associatedWith Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964. person
associatedWith Houghton Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Kaufman, George S. (George Simon), 1889-1961. person
associatedWith Locke, Robinson, 1856-1920 person
associatedWith Lowell, Amy, 1874-1925. person
associatedWith MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982. person
associatedWith Masters, Edgar Lee, 1868-1950. person
associatedWith Matthews, William Henry, 1873-1946. person
associatedWith Metropolitan Opera (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Morison, Samuel Eliot, 1887-1976. person
associatedWith Motion Picture Research Council. corporateBody
associatedWith Northeast Harbor Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Pershing, John J. (John Joseph), 1860-1948. person
associatedWith Pinero, Arthur Wing, Sir, 1855-1934. person
associatedWith Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919. person
associatedWith Russell, Ada Dwyer, person
associatedWith Seymour, Charles, 1885-1963. person
associatedWith Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. person
associatedWith Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950. person
associatedWith Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930. person
associatedWith Valentiner, Wilhelm Reinhold, 1880-1958. person
associatedWith Wharton, Edith, 1862-1937. person
associatedWith Winter, William, 1836-1917 person
associatedWith Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939. person
correspondedWith Yourcenar, Marguerite. person
associatedWith Zangwill, Israel, 1864-1926. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Northeast Harbor (Me.)
United States
United States
Maine--Northeast Harbor
Subject
Theater
Theater
Charities
Motion picture industry
Music
Music
Opera
Opera
Rich people
Rosalind (Fictitious character : Shakespeare)
Summer resorts
Women
Occupation
Actresses
Collector
Activity

Person

Birth 1879-12-13

Death 1979-10-24

Information

Permalink: http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69w11gn

Ark ID: w69w11gn

SNAC ID: 57827390